St. Louis Used Car Dealers and Bad Credit Car Loans

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The process of applying for a bad credit car loan in St. Louis is no different than applying for a car loan with good credit. While the interest rates for bad credit financing are not as good as those for individual with higher credit scores and stronger credit histories, Cross Keys Auto works hard to get you bad credit car loans at competitive interest rates, with fewer documents needed to get the ball rolling and no fees to apply.

Car Financing Can Improve Credit Score
When we help our customers with credit issues and guaranteed financing, the resulting car loan can help improve customer credit scores. Once you have a car loan, focus on making your payments on time and after a few months, you will start to see your credit score increase. Now only does a bad credit car loan on our used cars get you behind the wheel of a new-to-you car, but it can help re-establish your credit for future purchases and financing needs.

Pre-Approved Car Loans
Using our pre-approval process is a good way to shop for your next car at Cross Keys Auto in St. Louis. Fill out the form, and we’ll do our best to approve you for our guaranteed credit options. This is similar to receiving a blank check for car shopping – you’ll know exactly how much money you qualify for and how much it will cost you per month, to help you budget for the car purchase. With pre-approval in hand, you can shop our inventory of St. Louis used cars to find the one perfect for your needs.

What to Do With an Upside Down Car Loan in St. Louis

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Most of the time, car loans for used cars are not going to end up “upside down”. Used cars have already experienced the majority of their depreciation in the first couple years, and for the most part – buying a St. Louis used car instead of new will prevent you from owing more than the car is worth. There are some instances when your used car could end up with an upside down loan, though – and if you’re in that situation, Cross Keys Auto offers the following tips to help you turn it around:

Consider Selling Your Car
If your used car loan is upside down and you were thinking about trading it in for a different used car, the trade-in value may not be enough to cover what you still owe on the loan. When this happens, you have to pay the difference, or roll the remaining balance onto the back of the next car loan. This is not ideal, nor always possible, particularly if you have less than perfect credit. On the other hand, sometimes you can get more money by selling the car yourself, instead of trading it in at the dealership. If you can get more of the money you still owe, selling the car to get a different used car might be your best option to get out from under an upside down car loan.

Keep the Car and Make Payments
If you are upside down on a used car loan, you can just keep making the payments until the loan turns around. This is what most people do. The downside is if you get into an accident during the time you owe more than the car is worth, you could be faced with paying on a loan for a car you can no longer drive. Whenever possible, make more than the minimum monthly car loan payment to help speed up the process and get the car value more in line with what you owe on the car loan.

Bad Credit Car Loans With No Money Down

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It’s common practice for car dealerships to require down payments from people who have less than great credit. If you’re in need of a bad credit car loan in St. Louis, and don’t have money available for a down payment, there are a few tricks you can use to get yourself a car loan for a used car.

Most financial institutions take your credit score and credit history into consideration when determining whether or not to extend you credit. Just because you have a blemished credit history or a lower credit score does not mean you can’t get a car loan in St. Louis, however. Bad credit car loans exist, you’ll just need to be prepared to pay higher interest rates than someone with a higher credit score. Always shop around and compare interest rates you’re offered from a few different sources before accepting a bad credit car loan – you may find you can get a better deal with a little patience.

Trade In Your Current Car
If you don’t have cash for a down payment, you can trade in another vehicle and use the trade-in value toward the down payment. This will reduce the total amount of the purchase price and reduce how much you have to finance. You probably won’t get a large sum of money for the trade in of an older vehicle, but often it’s enough to count as a down payment and get the car loan you need. On the other hand, if you think you can sell the car yourself and get more than the trade-in value, sell it and use the cash as your down payment.

Selling Your St. Louis Used Car Safely

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Most people wouldn’t think selling their St. Louis used car would be a safety concern, but there have been a number of reports recently of people listing their cars for sale on internet sites only to find themselves in dangerous situations when prospective buyers meet them to check out the car. We don’t think people should panic when selling their car – but it’s always a good idea to take some safety precautions. Here are some tips from Cross Keys Auto for selling your car safely:

Don’t Meet People Alone and Meet in Public
Meet any potential car buyers you don’t know in a public place, and have someone with you. There is safety in numbers and people are less likely to attack or try and harm someone if they are not alone. Don’t invite buyers to your home – instead, drive the car to a shopping mall or public parking lot for a prospective buyer to view.

Try to Judge Buyer’s Intentions By Phone First
You don’t have to meet with every person who calls to ask about the car. Ask them some questions first to see if they seem genuinely interested in buying a car and have the means to do it – and only set up viewing or test drive appointments with people who seem legit. Trust your instincts, if someone sounds suspicious for any reason, just hang up.

Release Yourself Of Liability
If you do succeed in selling your used car to someone, make sure to visit the DMV right away to fill out the Release of Liability Form. This ensures you are not held liable for anything the new owner might do with your car once he or she drives away.

Summer Road Trip Car Checkup Tips for St. Louis Used Cars

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As the summer heat hits St. Louis, many people decide a road trip is in order! As the owner of a St. Louis used car, it’s a good idea to schedule a summer car checkup before you hit the pavement, to make sure your trip is completed safely and problem free.

From The Outside
Walk around the car and look at the tires. Do they have enough tread and are the tires wearing evenly? Check that each tire has the right amount of air pressure. Keep a real spare tire in the trunk or back of the truck before heading out on a road trip – the little donut spare tires are only designed to get you safely off the highway and to the nearest service station to buy a replacement tire. Save yourself the trouble by preparing in advance.

Air and Cooling Systems
Since you’re thinking about a summer road trip, it’s a good idea to service the air conditioning to keep you comfortable in the hot sun. Check the belts and compressor clutch, and refrigerant level. Have a mechanic or someone knowledgeable check out the water pump, radiator, heater core, belts and hoses and cooling fans of the cooling system to prevent overheating.

Basic Mechanics and Fluids
Make sure to check the front end, including tie rod ends, steering components and ball joints. As you should with any trip, also make sure your oil change and filter are up to date and check for any leaks. Check the car’s owner manual for recommended transmission service, and if you’re reaching the miles for service, have it checked out. At a minimum, check for transmission fluid leaks, and make sure the fluid is clean.

St. Louis Used Car Dealership Explains Car Brakes

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Have you ever thought about what might happen if your brakes gave out just as you needed to stop the car? Brakes are probably the most important of all safety features in a car, and when you’re driving a used car, it’s especially important that you ensure your brakes are being properly maintained so they will work when you need to use them. Cross Keys Auto offers the following brake safety types and tips for your St. Louis used cars:

What Makes the Car Stop
When you push on the brakes, a combination of brake pads, linings and rotors connected to the wheels are pressed against each other to generate friction. The friction prevents the wheels from turning, and brings your car safely to a stop.

Disc Brakes
Your used car may have disc brakes, as they are the most common types of brakes used in cars. Disc brakes are similar to how hand brakes on a bicycle work – when the brake pedal is pushed, the brake pads create friction by squeezing the rotor which is attached to the car’s wheels.

Drum Brakes
Some used cars have drum brakes. These brakes work by pushing brake shoes against the drum attached to the wheels of the car.

Brake Maintenance
Because car brakes work by generating friction to bring the car to a stop, they do wear out with use and need to be maintained and replaced at times. If you don’t replace brakes, eventually you will go to use them and your car will not stop. Check your car’s user manual for a recommended brake maintenance schedule, or bring your car into Cross Keys Auto in St. Louis for brake service if the steering wheel becomes shaky, the brakes make noise when used, or the car seems to take longer to stop than it used to.

Ways to Avoid Too Many Credit Inquiries When Buying a St. Louis Car

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If you’re looking for St. Louis guaranteed financing on a used car loan, you’ve come to the right place. Cross Keys Auto offers the following tips for avoiding too many credit inquiries while looking for a car loan to buy your next used car:

Request a Free Copy of Your Credit Report
Every year, you can request a copy of your credit report for free from each of the three credit reporting bureaus. Make a few copies of the credit report and bring one with you when visiting our St. Louis used car dealership. We can often use it to get you preliminary approval – or discover if it’s not possible to lend to you. You can also use it when applying for a car loan from other sources, to help avoid an inquiry on your credit report which can result in a lower credit score.

Once you find a lender with guaranteed financing that it appears you qualify for, they may still have to pull your credit report or score – but at least you will only have one pull of your credit instead of multiple inquiries over several months as you try to find someone who can lend you money even with a bad credit score. While multiple inquiries within a certain time frame for car loans count only once – if you continuously apply for credit over a long period of time, the inquiries will be counted multiple times against you and it will further damage your credit score. Having a copy of your credit report will help minimize the number of times you need to let lenders pull your credit.

How to Improve Your Credit Score to Get a St. Louis Used Car Loan

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Our Missouri used car dealership and a number of local financial institutions offer bad credit car loans to people who have less than perfect credit. While you can get approved for a car loan without perfect credit, it’s in your best interest to improve your credit score before applying if at all possible. The higher your credit score, the more likely it is you will be approved for a loan, first of all, and secondly – the better your score the better the interest rate and the less the car will cost you.

Here’s a few tips to improving your credit score to get a better interest rate on your St. Louis used car loan:

Make Payments on Time
First, and most importantly, make sure you make all of your debt payments on time. Set up reminders for each of your bills, or use your bank’s bill pay feature to ensure the bills are paid before their due date. The longer you have an on-time payment history, the higher your credit score will be.

Don’t Apply For Additional Credit
While you are working to improve your credit score, don’t apply for additional sources of loans or credit cards. Each time you apply for credit, an inquiry is made to your credit report and can decrease your credit score. Multiple inquiries for credit makes you look desperate, and you’ll be seen as a higher risk in the eyes of lenders.

Pay off Debts
One of the most common reasons people have lower credit scores is because they have more debt than they can comfortably afford to pay back. Spend some time focusing your efforts on repaying your debts. If you can pay any off, your score will start to increase because you are reducing your debt to available credit ratio.